I was caregiver for my husband who had Alzheimer’s. I noticed he started forgetting and taking notes eight years ago. Alzheimer’s runs in his family, as he had two sisters that had it. So my thoughts turned to the probability that he might have it also.

Sure enough, he steadily got worse and worse, and his fellow employers helped him with his job so he could retire. It really wasn’t bad at first being his caretaker. It was when he forgot names and relationships with people that the job started being more difficult. When he started wandering, it became a little more harder. And when he didn’t understand anymore, he got a little temperamental; it became almost impossible to care for him as it was a 24 hour a day job.

He got up at night and wandered, so I was up most of the night trying to care for him. He started not being able to dress himself, and it was becoming more difficult to get the rest that I needed. After being persuaded by my children, I finally had to place him in a nursing home. It was one of the saddest moments of my life. He was there only three months when he fell into a comma and passed on. A sad moment in all our lives.

There needs to be more study into why Alzheimer’s cannot be treated. They know what it does to the brain … why can’t they discover how to stop it, like other diseases?